Most people have some sort of addiction. No matter the substance that the addiction is associated with the pattern is basically the same. We have a feeling in our body, me subconsiously conclude that that feeling is bad and we need to change it, we erroneously conclude that the way to fix this bad feeling is to take the substance. Let's look at sugar to start as an example. For people who are addicted to sugar they use it as an escape, a way to alter their mood temporarily and avoid confronting a feeling. Of course there is a way to have a healthy relationship with sugar, but when the relationship is being abused it can be an addiction like anything else. When it is overused over time we feel worse and worse. Maybe because sugar causes us to put on more fat and we don't look the way we want to, or because of the physiologic changes from diabetes. Either way this bad feeling becomes a reason to use more sugar to try and alter our state. In addition, the bad feeling itself can simply be withdrawl from the substance. If we eat too much sugar, too regularly over a long period of time we will become tolerant to it (meaning we need more to get the same mood altering effect) and if we take it away we will experience withdrawl. I know of people who went through headaches, nausea, irritability, difficultly sleeping all from sugar withdrawl. Now, we can replace sugar with any other addictive substance and the process will be the same. Bad feeling, subconsious mental conclusion that leads us to use substance, altered mood, experience negative effects of altered mood, experience withdrawl from substance, repeat cycle. So, addiction is a common human strategy to deal with suffering. The problem is that it creates more suffering. It is better to notice the feeling that starts the whole process, look it right in the face, accept, and feel it. Typically we need counseling to help us be successful in this approach.
For someone who is already addicted to something, it can be quite difficult to break the cycle. Today we see more people dying from Opiod overdoses than any other form of accidental death. Cigarette smoking has been a leading cause of cancer for years. There are ways though to untangle even these very strong addictions. I, Dr. Starsiak, recently completed additional training to be able to prescribe buprenorphine. This is a medication that helps with stabalizing opiod/opiate addictions. Most people who try to quit opiods/opiates on their own return to usage within a year, >90% of people in fact. Buprenorphine is a medication that will stabalize the addiction. It does not create a high like the opioids that people typically abuse recreationally. Instead, it will prevent withdrawal symptoms and eliminate cravings for other opioids. This allows a person to get their life in order, to develop a support system, to go through counseling, basically to experience stability, so when they're ready they can be more successful at completely quitting opioids. In fact, buprenorphine itself is an opioid but the way it interacts with the opiate receptors is different than commonly abused opioids and opiates. It does not fully activate the receptors, so it doesn't create the same high. It does however prevent withdrawal and cravings so a person can go on living their life. Typically a patient needs to be sustained on buprenorphine for at least a year before attempting to taper it down. Studies show better success rates with long term abstinence with sustaned mantainence on buprenorphine compared to using buprenorphine to detox quickly from another opiate and then stopping the buprenorphine. Success rates of long-term abstinence go up the longer a patient is on this medication. A patient takes this medication at home and only needs to come into the office once a month to be reassessed, so it is quite convenient and will not interfere with daily life. The phase where we switch over from whatever the abused opiate or opioid are to buprenorphine is called induction. Induction can be done at home or in my office depending on a few medical variables along with the patient's preference. the risk of death from opiate / opioid overdose is quartered when someone is on buprenorphine. So, it really is a matter of life and death for many. If you are struggling with opioid or opiate addiction please give me a call. I will help.
For someone who is already addicted to something, it can be quite difficult to break the cycle. Today we see more people dying from Opiod overdoses than any other form of accidental death. Cigarette smoking has been a leading cause of cancer for years. There are ways though to untangle even these very strong addictions. I, Dr. Starsiak, recently completed additional training to be able to prescribe buprenorphine. This is a medication that helps with stabalizing opiod/opiate addictions. Most people who try to quit opiods/opiates on their own return to usage within a year, >90% of people in fact. Buprenorphine is a medication that will stabalize the addiction. It does not create a high like the opioids that people typically abuse recreationally. Instead, it will prevent withdrawal symptoms and eliminate cravings for other opioids. This allows a person to get their life in order, to develop a support system, to go through counseling, basically to experience stability, so when they're ready they can be more successful at completely quitting opioids. In fact, buprenorphine itself is an opioid but the way it interacts with the opiate receptors is different than commonly abused opioids and opiates. It does not fully activate the receptors, so it doesn't create the same high. It does however prevent withdrawal and cravings so a person can go on living their life. Typically a patient needs to be sustained on buprenorphine for at least a year before attempting to taper it down. Studies show better success rates with long term abstinence with sustaned mantainence on buprenorphine compared to using buprenorphine to detox quickly from another opiate and then stopping the buprenorphine. Success rates of long-term abstinence go up the longer a patient is on this medication. A patient takes this medication at home and only needs to come into the office once a month to be reassessed, so it is quite convenient and will not interfere with daily life. The phase where we switch over from whatever the abused opiate or opioid are to buprenorphine is called induction. Induction can be done at home or in my office depending on a few medical variables along with the patient's preference. the risk of death from opiate / opioid overdose is quartered when someone is on buprenorphine. So, it really is a matter of life and death for many. If you are struggling with opioid or opiate addiction please give me a call. I will help.